Sunday, October 13, 2013

Continuing from the first part of our visit, we headed over to the Haunted Mansion. While the regular Haunted Mansion is still a favorite, I enjoy the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay even better.

And apparently so do a lot of other people! Posted wait time was 85 minutes! The line wound all the way around New Orleans Square, but thankfully a cast member was at the very end of it with a "Haunted Mansion Line Starts Here" sign.

A Pumpkin King scarecrow greets us at the entrance.

This year, Jack is celebrating his 13th year taking over the Mansion for Halloween.

Behold the Mansion of ghosts and frights,
Each room is gifted with delights!
13 fun and fiendish sights!

When you spy them, scream with glee!
Count them all and think of ME!
Hee hee hee Hee hee hee hee!JackSandy Claws

Did you know that during Halloweentime there is an extra animal in the Pet Cemetery? Back in February Ruston organized a private tour of the Haunted Mansion with a former cast member lead and we got the story of this guy.
During the first year of the Haunted Mansion overlay, the attic was home to 20 cymbal clanging monkeys. Only problem was that these were just regular off the shelf toys and they were constantly breaking! As a tribute to all the monkeys that died in the attic scene, every Halloween they have a cymbal monkey gravestone. Keep an eye out for it next time you're in line!
Also paying tribute to the original cymbal monkeys in the attic is a cymbal clanging Oogie Boogie.

Even though the posted wait time was 85 minutes, we were inside the door after 30 minutes. I had read a little bit about the new surprises in store for us and I was excited to see the new projections in the stretching room. As soon as we entered, Theresa pointed out the hidden Mickey in the stained glass wreath on the ceiling.

It was pretty cool seeing Jack Skellington come to life above our heads. I really liked it better than the static Jack

Compare the above to what was there last year. This year is so much better!

I thought it was interesting that after Jack disappeared, we then see a projection of the Ghost Host dangling from the noose.

Ruston trying to act like a scary Haunted Mansion butler.

Scary Teddy welcoming us to the mansion as a spider dangles down to offer us a present.

Zero's gift this year was a bowl of 13 bones.

We always look forward to seeing what they've got for us in the ballroom scene. Every year, they do a new gingerbread house centerpiece and this year they went huge! It's easily the biggest gingerbread house I've seen here. I couldn't even get the whole thing in the frame in this first shot.

The whole house is an advent calendar counting down the weeks to Christmas. The weeks that have already passed have Jack's face coming out the doors.

Time to enter the attic. It's always nice to see that I'm on the nice list. I never do see Theresa though...

The Oogie Boogie tribute to the cymbal monkeys.

And there's special #13 wrapping paper decorating many of the gifts here. Unlike last year though, I didn't see any gifts for Joe. I'll have to look harder next time. I know I should have one there somewhere.

The Pumpkin King himself Jack Skellington meets us in the cemetery along with his ghost dog Zero.

One of the last #13s pops up when Lock, Shock and Barrel jump out to scare you at the end.

Since we're already so close, you know we're heading back to Theresa's favorite ride. When we got there though, we were befuddled. Why in the world does Winnie the Pooh have a 35 minute wait?
T said, "We can still do what we always do afterwards right?"

Yes Theresa, we can still go get a treat.

The cake pops looked really good. The Mickey mummy pop looked really well done as did the spider cake pop behind it. But Theresa has already learned her lesson and isn't into trying anything new back here. She's happy with the chocolate and caramel covered marshmallows and won't be changing any time soon.

We took our treats over to the Hungry Bear restaurant and sat by the water, enjoying the ambiance, waving at the trains as they passed, and just chatting with each other for over an hour.

In less than 5 weeks, our whole group is going to change! Baby Boy Flowers will be here before we know it!

We love you Baby Boy!

A word of warning though...
I BITE!

On the way out, Theresa and I stopped by the Mad Hatter to pick up Baby Boy's very first pair of mouse ears!

He's going to be a cute one!

To finish the night, we headed over to Jacob's house to have dinner and watch The Nightmare Before Christmas. A perfect end to a fun day at the parks!